A castle, a concert, and a music video—our magical offsite in Portugal
In August 2022 we brought the Olivine team together for a co-working week in Portugal. Many of us have been working together for 2 years but had never met in person (we're a completely remote company). We laughed, we learned, and we made a music video!
Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive, meet for the first time, and port tasting
Day 2: Group dinners and music practice
Day 3: Team photoshoot, film our music video, and Fado night!
Day 4: Team strategy workshops & values session
Day 5: Field trip to Sintra Castle
DAY 1
Arrive in Lisbon + many meet for the first time
Our team traveled to Portugal from Argentina, France, and all corners of the US. Despite many of us working together for 2 years, between covid and being a remote company, lots of folks met in person for the very first time.
Swag, but make it Olivine!
We’ve all had a lifetime supply of ill-fitting tech t-shirts, so we had to do swag the Olivine way!
Stickers
Lots of inside jokes and memes turned into stickers.
Postcards
Our very own Angie shot these Portugal photos on real film, so we had to turn them into postcards.
Rissóis battle cards
Rissóis are Portuguese savory pastries, kind of like empanadas, and they have a secret code: the shapes tell you what’s inside!
Portugal, The Cookbook
A stunning collection of authentic recipes collected from all over the country by Leandro Carreira to help us take the taste of our trip home.
The Lisboa ‘22 tote bag
The plan is to visit a new city each year, and have the tote bag reflect the local culture and landmarks.
The Olivine Offsite 2022 Newspaper
Port + shrub tasting
When you’re in Portugal you drink port.
Madalena gave us a tour of her favorites.
DAY 2
Team dinners
Music practice
It was a packed week, and some had to leave early, so we crammed in two music practices before the big film shoot on Tuesday!
DAY 3
Team photoshoot
The Olivine team, in order of appearance, starting with Ashley in 2016.
The entire Olivine team
Music video of “Feel It Still” filmed live from our AirBnB
We're a creative bunch and I knew lots of the team played instruments so I had the crazy idea to film a music video. Everyone that works here is just as crazy as me, so they all said yes.
Although one person didn’t realize we’d be playing live and thought we were going to lipsync. 😆
I got to Portugal early and sourced the instruments and gear. No one had any clue as to anyone else's talents, but with just 2 practices we managed to record this live from the living room of our Airbnb.
We're total amateurs, but I think it came out pretty good and even has a bit of magic about it (but I'm probably biased).
The band
My deepest regret from this trip is not getting a full shot of the band in front of this mural for our album cover. 🤦🏻♀️
Ryan Lambert on lead guitar
John-Phillip on keys
Rae Lambert on vocals and cajón
Jadon Thomas on guitar
Arielle Shnaidman on violin
Angie on guitar
Joana on vocals
Madalena on the shakers
Ashley Wilson on vocals
Sheena Vega on tambourine
Teri Madonna audio & set direction
Jose Orpinelli director of photography
Rodrigo Rezende first assistant camera
Fado night with friends, and family
We hosted a special open house evening so local family and friends of Olivine could join us for a night of food, wine, and live Fado music.
What is Fado?
Ideal Clube de Fado performed a private concert for us!
In Latin, fado is “fatum”, that is, destiny and sings of life’s encounters and mismatches, using saudade, love, melancholy, and sadness as inspiration. In contrast to this state of mind is the rhythm of the Portuguese guitar – only introduced later in the history of Fado – which transmits life, cheer and enthusiasm. Perhaps it is this contrast that makes Fado so special.
Initially, this musical style was sung in taverns and houses of prostitution, commonly known as ‘half-door’ houses. However, there is no record of Fado until the 19th century, and it only became known in the old neighborhoods of Lisbon.
DAY 4
Team strategy workshops & values session
We’ll be rolling out a new About page soon and we’ve got big plans for 2022!
DAY 5
Field trip to Sintra
We took Ubers to Sintra.
And then we took Tuk Tuks up to the castle.
Tuk Tuks back down to Sintra village for lunch.
Then finished the day with ginja tasting!.
Couldn’t have asked for a better week in Portugal.
Here’s to many more Olivine offsites!
P.S. Thinking about hosting an offsite in Portugal or just going for a visit? Check out our Google Map, this blog post, and this video on speaking Portuguese.
